$1.8 million is being made available to the City of Prince George from the Building Safer Communities Fund to take action against gun and gang violence.
This was discussed during tonight’s (Monday) City Council meeting, and Director of Public Safety Adam Davey noted that they were notified of this funding with very little warning.
“The first thing we want to do is actually get a coordinator on the ground to design a program for further review. Right now all we have is the City was selected, it was quite a quick timeline, and now we just want to take advantage of those funds.”
$250 million is being made available to municipalities and Indigenous communities across Canada, and the funding will go until 2026.
Councillor Cori Ramsay was concerned that the City would have to pick up the project after the funding was finished, but it was noted that the Program Coordinator position would only be contracted until 2026.
Councillor Susan Scott wanted to note that this funding would also impact seniors.
“I also would like to just flag the implication of gun and gang violence around seniors, who are often victims in all of this.”
The report to council also noted that there would be an annual update on this program through the Police Services Annual Review.
Council also discussed the changes to public hearings, where they voted to keep phone lines available for residents to maintain accessibility.
They also gave the green light to Trinity United Church to apply for funding with Northern Development Initiative Trust.
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